Racing Report: Wild finish in FWD main event at Laurens County Speedway

The Front-Wheel Drive Division at Laurens County Speedway put on a main event to remember, but not for who won the race. Instead, it was for how the race was brought to a sudden halt.

A wild crash took place on turn 1 on the last lap of the main event, which Joel Cabe won, which ended the race short of the normal 10 laps. In the incident, the g777 car of Grant Burton got loose in the turns, then was tagged by the No. 6 car of Travis Jamieson. After that incident, the No. 25 car of Spud Ammons was left stuck with nowhere to go, contacting Burton’s car enough to make Burton flip through turn 2, ending up resting against the inside fencing in turn 2.

The red flag immediately came out and EMS was brought out on the track. Burton, it appeared, had a hand injury in the incident, while Ammons also had an injury that required a second EMS vehicle and a stretcher to come out. Both drivers ultimately were taken to the hospital.

As for the rest of the race, Cabe led from start to finish as Jeremy Case, who finished second, could never put forth enough of a challenge to try and pluck first place away.

Because the field was frozen after the crash at the end of the race, Burton was ruled to have finished third, Jamieson took fourth and Ammons was fifth.

Monster Minis: Rod Tucker won the main event race, with Bradley Tucker taking second and Brandon Frazier third – but it was the two drivers who did not figure in the top three who had the most memorable result.

Larry Teal entered the race with a 163-point lead in the standings over Phillip Wilson, and the two were set for a battle in the main event after they were the top two drivers in the heat race. Wilson started on the pole for the main, but Teal jumped to the lead briefly on the first lap – before Wilson fought his way back and recaptured the lead at the line. Wilson started to build a bit of a lead, but a caution flag on the fourth lap brought the drivers back together.

The two drivers continued their battle on the restart and both were later cited for a caution that sent the two lead cars to the back of the field. After another restart on lap 4, the drivers again got into it on the front as Teal ultimately hit Wilson on the front after some fierce banging on the track. Both drivers were immediately sent off for the remainder of the night, and both drivers were disqualified – meaning they would not get any points or prize money.

When the two drivers were sent to the back after their first caution, Rod Tucker was moved into the front position. After the final caution came out, Tucker jumped out from the field and quickly built a lead of more than a second that proved too much to overcome.

Limited: Michael Smith boosted his lead in the Limited Division by rolling past the field in the main event, topping second-place driver Jimmy Taylor by a whopping 13.819 seconds. Mike Kernells took third.

Smith started on the inside of Row 2 for the main event and got past Kernells for second on the opening lap. Once there, Smith then found his way past Taylor and was in the lead before the end of the opening lap had even arrived.

Following a restart on the third lap Smith re-established his lead over Taylor and quickly started to pull away. The only question, as the race went on, was whether Smith would lap the entire field. He came close, only failing to put Taylor a lap down, but Smith was never threatened as he turned the main event into a leisurely stroll in the park.

Storay started the main event on the pole and quickly moved to the lead with Calvert following in second. Storay started to open a gap early in the race, and as the early laps went by the lead became more and more secure. Calvert had to fight off a push from Bowie near the middle part of the main event, and was ultimately successful once they were past the halfway mark.

As the two drivers battled for second, however, Storay built steady momentum and opened a lead he would not relinquish.

Thunder Bombers: Don Hiott took home the victory in the main event of the Thunder Bombers division, with Dylan Chappell taking second and Dan Lawson finishing third.

After one attempted start was wiped out, Hiott led from start to finish – but he had to fight hard as Chappell did not allow him to pull away. After winning his heat race by .023 seconds, Chappell knew he had a car that could win the main event. But despite his best efforts, and his attempt at a last-lap pass to mirror what he did on the last lap of his heat race, Chappell could not quite duplicate his success in the heat race and ended up finishing behind Hiott in what was one of the better races of the season.

602 Crate: Chris Patterson won the main event in the 602 Crate Division. Mart Patterson was second and Butch Riddle was third.

Brad Abercrombie started the race in first place after holding off Chris Patterson by .001 seconds in the heat race, but Abercrombie’s lead could not hold through the opening lap as both Patterson cars got by Abercrombie before Abercrombie spun out to bring out the caution flag.

From there both Patterson drivers took full command of the race and Chris Patterson led from the restart to end of the race.